Miriam Fried, Violin
Don Weilerstein, Violin
Atar Arad, Viola
Paul Biss, Viola
Frans Helmerson, Cello
John O’Conor, Piano
A fascinating trio of compositions: Beethoven did his own arrangement for piano quartet of the Opus 16 quintet. Originally composed for piano and four winds and published the same year as his first two piano concertos, the work creates a feeling not unlike a piano concerto. Shostakovich’s second piano trio (he never allowed the first to be published in his lifetime) is a rhythmically incisive memorial to his lifelong friend Ivan Sollertinsky, a critic and musicologist. Though not Brahms’s final composition, his Op. 111 Quintet was planned by the composer as a valedictory summary of his style and aesthetic, ranging from intimate chamber sonorities to almost-symphonic effusions.
Beethoven: | Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 16A |
Shostakovich: | Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 |
Brahms: | Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 |